Low mcat, re-take planned; should I bother applying this cycle?

[bugmento]

hey everyone,


so here's my summary:

23N mcat (took in March for the 1st time)
yeah I f'd up, on top of only taking 1 practice test (the free shortened one offered by Kaplan) I was an anxious mess the night before. I took 2 sleeping pills and couldn't stay asleep for longer than an hour and the day of I sharted in my pants during the Verbal section but finished the test anyway


3.39 cumulative gpa, 3.12 science gpa
typical gpa story: did poorly my first 2 years of college, but 3.7 average for last 2 years of college, when I did all of the pre-reqs except biology


over-represented minority

no research (I went to a large school with many pre-meds, hard to get research assistant position without kissing ass which I was unwilling to do)

500+ hours of shadowing ER doctors, 50 hours private practice specialist shadowing

sporadic volunteering at events


After reading through a bunch of WAMC threads, I’ve gathered that it’s basically impossible for me to get into MD schools with my current MCAT, so my question is should I bother applying this cycle if I re-take in August or September? In other words, would I have a good chance of being accepted if I applied this cycle and got say a 30 on an August or September re-take?


I really do appreciate any sincere feedback, thanks

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[leggo]

Hi,

I really dont see a chance at MD schools. They look for 32 MCATs, so the 23 will obv not work. Your GPA is also pretty low, so there is almost no chance at a acceptance this year. DO prob wouldnt work either, cause they look for at least a 27 MCAT.

 

[V5RED]

500 hours of shadowing?

The only volunteering you list is sporadic volunteering at events.

That seems really strange to me especially when most applicants I have seen posting here have well over 100hrs of volunteering in a hospital type setting and well under 100hrs of shadowing.

I would be shocked if you got in with your GPA and a 23 on the MCAT and your only noteworthy EC being an enormous of shadowing.

 

[bugmento]

thanks for your responses leggo and v5, but i'm not asking if i can get it with my 23, i've already established in my original post that it's basically impossible. I'm asking if it's reasonable / plausible to apply this cycle with an MCAT re-take in August or September and (assuming i do well enough) still get in this cycle

 

[kautionwirez]

thanks for your responses leggo and v5, but i'm not asking if i can get it with my 23, i've already established in my original post that it's basically impossible. I'm asking if it's reasonable / plausible to apply this cycle with an MCAT re-take in August or September and (assuming i do well enough) still get in this cycle

apply next cycle, kill the MCAT. get a 30+

make sure to travel!

 

[FattySlug]

From what I know being a reapplicant you will be expected at some schools to have made significant improvements to your application so if you are not confident this will be the case then don't apply this year. The first shot is your best shot.

DO is probably your best route. I think DO GPA ave. is 3.5. Try to retake classes to raise GPA. Retake the MCAT then you will have a much better chance.

 

[leggo]

sorry, must have misread it. You can try to take it then, but you app will be late. that, along with a low gpa will hurt your chances. If you can get above a 30 though, you can apply.